Pepperdine Guitar Department Concert April 7th, 2026

The undergrad students in Pepperdine's Guitar Department performed for the last time this semester. The  program featured six students performing classical compositions from Baroque to Contemporary.  The Baroque piece was composed by Bach (b. 1685-1750).  And,  the very modern piece composed by Liam Kuhn (b. Canada 1998).  Accordingly, the first guitarist on the program, Thomas Wiedensohler (Freshman class) played Johann S. Bach's "Prelude No. 1 from Well Tempered Clavier.  As a pianist who favors Bach's concertos, I found it enticing hearing  this work performed on solo guitar for a variant aesthetic.  Surprisingly, the musical resounding from the guitar were only tangentially different from the piano Wiedensohler playing provided a rich interpretation of Bach's melodious work.   My favorite pieces on the program were performed by Matthew Kunkel (upper claws).  These included Manuel Ponce (b. 1882-1948) "Prelude (in the Baroque Style) and Agustin Barrios (b. 1885-1944) "Sueno en la Florets; a very renowned performance piece of classical guitarist Andre Segovia(b. Spain (1893-1987).  This program along with other student performances are held throughout the school term on campus.  These performances are free and open to the public.  The public is encouraged to attend as integral learning experience for the students who are tutored in addition to artistry and technique,  and also mentored in public performing skills.  The students briefly shared their knowledge of the composers, the piece itself and something noteworthy that made the piece memorable.  There is another classical guitar concert at Pepperdine University in Malibu this Monday, April 13th at 7:00PM.  I'll be attending and encourage everyone to attend. We brought our three old granddaughter,  Bennet, who wants to attend, again. Unfortunately, this concert will go past her bedtime.